The boys said it couldn't be done -- knocking over a racetrack. Too much security. Too much money to handle. Too many obstacles. But Johnny Clay knew, if anyone did, how to mastermind a daring robbery. You just had to have the right people to work with, a few ringers on the inside who could keep their mouths shut, and a diversion. A big diversion. Like taking out the favorite horse on the most anticipated race with a high-powered rifle. Things can go right, and things can go wrong. But Johnny knew his plan could work. If only everyone did his part without cracking. The Killing (originally titled Clean Break) by the master of capers, Lionel White, is what many people consider the greatest heist novel of all time. Stanley Kubrick liked the book enough to option it and make a classic noir film of it, co-scripted with the great Jim Thompson. Now available from Chalk Line Books in an illustrated, premium quality edition.

A group of small-time crooks play a daring race-track robbery--but their well-laid plans go awry.

Johnny Clay, an ex-con determined to strike it rich, has worked out a fool-proof scheme to knock off a racetrack payroll. The two million bucks should be enough to last him a lifetime or two. But a two-faced dame has another idea: Let Johnny do the work, then she'll grab the swag for herself and her boyfriend.

The boys said it couldn't be done -- knocking over a racetrack. Too much security. Too much money to handle. Too many obstacles. But Johnny Clay knew, if anyone did, how to mastermind a daring robbery. You just had to have the right people to work with, a few ringers on the inside who could keep their mouths shut, and a diversion. A big diver

A groundbreaking, multi-part narrative about a plot to rob a racetrack on its busiest day of the year, using one criminal mastermind, and several ordinary people. The heist comes up smooth, but things go awry when one of the regular guys involved tells the wrong person. Stanley Kubrick liked the story so much, he optioned the rights, hiring Jim Thompson as screenwriter to produce noir classic "The Killing."